CASE STUDY Active generation By Richard Mallard


The orbits of health, leisure and education are converging more than ever and with the much publicised “obesity epidemic” and the 2012 Olympics approaching we, as a profession, have a once in a lifetime opportunity to work together and make a real difference to people’s lives. DC Leisure works in partnership with 31 local authorities managing around 110 leisure centres, employing around 6,500 staff.


The value of healthy communities through increased physical activity is now being given the recognition it deserves and the benefits are significant, ranging from economic (through reduced reliance on the NHS) through to many personal success stories where lifestyle changes have made a huge difference to self esteem and literally saved lives in many cases.


In my role as Sports Development Director I see first hand in our centres many examples of health related programmes which impact so dramatically on many of the lives of our customers. They include visits from primary school kids in FIA schemes, GP referral schemes, and child weight management schemes. Increasingly we are linking up with local Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to provide health improvement posts which can signpost the


“The value of healthy communities through increased physical activity is now being given the recognition it deserves”


With ever more emphasis being placed on the natural partnership between the medical profession and exercise professionals we asked two leading fitness industry figures to explain how their companies took up the healthcare challenge.


community to appropriate facilities and link with staff such as fitness instructors and aerobic teachers to ensure that we reflect the needs of our communities.


It has also been very noticeable recently that there is far more interest from our contacts with GP referrals and PCTs about the value of REPs. It is a fact that the fitness and sport industry has not always professionalised our teachers, instructors and coaches and the existence of the Register, with levels of expertise within it, reassures our partners that we too have hallmarks of quality assurance and a commitment to Continuing Professional Development for all of those on the Register. The health sector rightly recognises expertise, e.g. chartered physiotherapists and as an industry we too must link with REPs to upskill our staff who will always remain our most important asset!


We have seen nine of our 26 Free Swimming schemes “topped up” with


THE AUTHOR


As well as Sports Development Director for DC Leisure, Richard Millard also oversees training, health and safety, quality assurance and Improvement initiatives.


He chairs the advisory board of the Hampshire County Sports Partnership and is a member of the Skills Active Forum of Employers, ensuring that the training framework for the industry meets the needs of employers.


funding from local PCTs, and we have two major partnerships with child obesity programmes similarly funded.


The MEND scheme (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it!) is a two year programme for children and is run in 23 of our sites making DC Leisure the largest deliverer of this type of intervention. The results for children, families and staff involved have been staggering and humbling and provide a worthy investment in improving a child’s future quality of life. Similarly, the Carnegie programme is about to be launched involving Rotherham Metropolitan Borough and the local PCT to reduce obesity levels in the town over a three year period.


The challenge for the fitness industry and us as professionals is to position our “product” as a prevention tool and a solution to the increasing health issues we read about. By up-skilling ourselves and understanding our partners I believe we are up for the challenge!


www.exerciseregister.org


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